It was in the second half at Breslin Center in East Lansing when Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond received a pass near the basket.

Drummond looked to score, but there was a Cleveland Cavaliers defender guarding the rim.

In the past, maybe because he feared contact would lead to failure at the free-throw line, he would sometimes try difficult moves to avoid defenders.

Not this night.

Drummond powered to the basket and tried to dunk the basketball — and the defender.

He missed the dunk, but was fouled. He split the two free throws, and the Pistons easily won their last exhibition game of the preseason.

Pistons coach Dwane Casey wouldn’t have cared if he had missed both.

That’s how he wants Drummond and the rest of the team to attack the rim.

“You want to go in with an idea of hurting the rim and whoever is in front of it,” Casey said Sunday after practice.

“That’s exactly what he’s got to do,” Casey said of Drummond. “On our team, Andre has done an excellent job of attacking the rim and finishing at the rim. He's just got to continue doing that, but that’s the mentality.”

In Casey’s first camp with the Pistons, there’s been an emphasis on his system.

The phrase of the month has been "shot spectrum," which is a fancy way of de-emphasizing long two-point shots.

Casey noted the Pistons were one of the worst teams in the league at finishing at the rim last season.

“Create contact, go through the body, go through the arms and hands and everything at the rim,” Casey said. “A lot of times, guys want to have a degree of difficulty when it just comes down to going through a body, keep your head up, eyes on the rim and finish the play.”

It’s all about taking advantage of team strengths.

In Drummond and Blake Griffin, Casey has two big men capable of tearing down the rim.

“Andre and Blake are both a problem when they’re rolling to the basket,” Casey said. “They have to make a decision because in taking them, nine times out of 10 it’s going to be a smaller guy so without charging, you got find a way to get it to the rim.”

No limits

Griffin and point guard Reggie Jackson will not be under minutes restrictions when the season begins Wednesday night with a visit from the Brooklyn Nets.

Jackson rehabbed a severe right ankle sprain in the offseason and is still working his way into game shape.

Casey said caution would be exercised at other times.

“We’ll probably be more smart in practices than games because they are two valuable guys that we need,” Casey said.

Stanley Johnson, who is battling a sore foot, sat out practice.

He likely will skip practice Monday.

“We want to make sure and give him a couple more days — today and tomorrow — to let it calm down,” Casey said. “He played through it the other night. Did a good job the other night of fighting through the pain, but he was in a lot of pain.”

Casey’s groove

As Casey spoke with reporters, an unfamiliar sound blared from the practice facility's speakers.

Frankie Beverly and Maze’s “Before I Let Go” was the sound as players took shots and worked on skills.

The normal post-practice music consists of hip-hop.

Casey, who was quick to say he didn’t control the music selection, was pleased with the selection from 1981.

“I like it,” Casey said. “That’s my era. I can understand the words to it and there’s not very many curse words.”